So Polo has been on the chain most of the time since Friday- safe from the neighbor, I hoped. However someone (not me or the boys) turned him loose this afternoon while Mint was outside (the milker ladies sometimes have Mint in the summer kitchen with them- he is officially Yana's dog.) I noticed Polo running around at 5 pm but Maxim was outside feeding the cows so I let him stay out. Then I heard a commotion on the side of the house- sounds of barking and clucking and opened the window to yell for the dogs. Polo was accompanying Mint as he chased the chickens (Victor tells me that Mint is a rat-catching dog with big paws to dig up burrows, for all he looks like a dachshund, he does have huge feet.) Anyway, Polo ran over to the window and sat looking up at me, while Mint turned back and tried to catch the babushka's rooster- the hens had already raced for her yard- they were on our side of the fence of course. I yelled at Mint again. The boys ran out and tied Polo back up, while the she had come out to peer over at us from her porch- she had heard the noise but missed most of the action.
Then while I was on the phone- our daughter Jess had called from Canada- standing outside (the cell phone reception is sometimes better outdoors) I watched Mint chase Needles (that cat is not happy to stay in the house now that spring is here- he races over when he hears the door open) as usual and thought- you know Polo always follows along in cat chasing with Mint, while he is Needles best bud in the house. No wonder he follows Mint to chase chickens- Mint creates excitement (or trouble) where ever he roams. Mint has completely recovered from whatever landed him at the vets three weeks ago- Garry says he now knows Mint will eat anything- after they were greasing the wheel of the cultivator and the dog ran over and started gobbling up the grease (not the edible kind the machinery lubricating kind)
Mint kept chasing Needles up trees and he must have hopped over to the roof of the summer kitchen from the nearby apple tree. There he was marching along the roof peak from end to end, and settling on top of the chimney until dark. He made it down on his own, coming back in the house around nine and curling up on the couch for a nap. I let Polo off the chain and brought him inside again tonight- he's lying on the floor napping in front of the couch.
Meanwhile Mooshka came out of the hole in the shed door and the little white kitten followed her toward the door -Mooshka is sure we'd like her in even if the kittens are in the back room of the shed attached to the house (Garry's tool shed)- so she is always sneaking in the door to the house when people are going in or out. The new steel door Maxim welded for the shed while we were in Canada has the same cat door cut in it that the wooden door had, so Mooshka can get in and out and after a few days the kittens are following her sometimes. Mooshka did come to the rescue (Mint seems to know something and backed up then) when the little guy hissed at Mint- although it bravely approached Mint to touch noses at one point! It then followed her back to the hole in the door, but stayed out with its back to the wall for a while, eyeing up the enemy with fully fluffed fur. Mint is too big to get in, luckily. I have come outside to find one of the little striped kittens on the doorstep a few times already with their Mama. The boys go out and give them a bowl of milk twice a day, I think we'll try some wet catfood this week.
Where did that kitten go? Poor Mint will have to look for trouble elsewhere
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